James Brown, in addition to being the New Minister of the Super Heavy Funk, Godfather of Soul, Man Who Never Left, etc., etc., writes the best song titles of any songwriter ever. And now, here they are, the Top Ten James Brown Song Titles!

10. I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door, I'll Get It Myself)

9. You Got To Have A Mother For Me

8. I Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me

7. Everybody's Doin' the Hustle & Dead on the Double Bump

6. Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine

5. Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose

4. You Can Have Watergate But Gimme Some Bucks And I'll Be Straight

3. Papa Don't Take No Mess

2. Doing it to Death

And the Number One Title of a James Brown Song…..






















It's A New Day So Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn

I prefer the zen simplicity of "Please, Please, Please."

There are seven wonders of the world. You are about to witness the eighth!
(Doc took most of the good ones, but you can't go wrong with...)

Tell Me What I Did Wrong
Talking Loud and Saying Nothing
I Got Ants in My Pants, Pt. 1
There It Is, Pt. 1
Stoned to the Bone, Pt. 1
Get up Offa That Thing
Soul Power
Mother Popcorn
Cold Sweat
Get on the Good Foot
Funky President (People It's bad)

Damn, this is a tuff act to follow..
I usta do Brown stuff way back in de 60s; most of yaw's tunes must be post 60s. I recognize Cold Sweat & Please, etc.; 'course I didn't know the titles to half the stuff we did anyhow.
But, and I can't say as it'd qualify fer yer "Top 10", my personal favorite is Papa's Got A Brand New Bag.

Shoot the Shot

/me hurriedly digs into his James holdings for something not already used in other posts...

Nothing Beats A Failure (But A Try)
Hot Pants (She Got to Use What She Got to Get What She Wants)

I think Get Up Offa That Thing is actually Get...Thing (And Try to Release the Pressure) or something like that...

Even if someone else wrote better titles, James would still get the "Most Parentheses" award.

Mama Come Here Quick (and Bring me that Lickin' Stick)

You Can Have Watergate Just Gimme Some Bucks and I'll Be Straight

It's too funky, too funky in here (funkity funk), gimme some air, (funk funk funk funk)

doodot thump thump doodot;)

Dupre: "Standing in the spotlight are twelve young men who've given you such tunes as The Grunt! (pause) Pass The Peas! (pause) Gimme Some More! (pause) Ladies and Gentlemen, without no doubt, these are the JBs!!!!"

"Hit it!"

I'm Giving Up Food for Funk

Gonna have a funky good time!

"Say It Loud I'm Black and I'm Proud".Peace and all that.

"Say It Loud I'm Black and I'm Proud"

If you want to talk about a song title that had a major cultural impact, that one is the winner, along with the man's music itself, which changed the way music sounds in all corners of the world.

True dat. Funny, when I went in on my list, I just kind of thought Doc had used that already.

"Say It Loud I'm Black and I'm Proud"

and "I Don't Nobody to Give me Nothin'" (Open up the door, I'll get it myself!)

Please, Please, Please
Try Me
I'll Go Crazy
You've Got The Power
Bewildered
I Don't Mind
Lost Someone
Night Train
Out Of Sight
Goodbye My Love

Please, Please, Please
Try Me
I'll Go Crazy
Cold Sweat
Prisoner Of Love
Think
Lost Someone
Night Train
Out Of Sight
Maybe the Last time

Harold Z,
I've never heard Brown do a "Think"; you sure?
[I know Aretha F does one.}

jazzredcat,

Yeah, it was a different tune from the Aretha. Actually it was a remake of the 5 Royales recording. They had the original and were also with King Records. It was somewhat of a big single for JB in the early 60s, and a comparison with the 5 Royales version is interesting. Both are great, and JB definitely brings something new to the tune. BTW, the 5 Royales were a pretty big influence on the Famous Flames. They were one of the great groups of R&B, and also did the originals on "Tell The Truth, later covered by Ray Charles, and "This Is Dedicated To The One I Love" later covered by the Shirelles.

>>"This Is Dedicated To The One I Love" later covered by the Shirelles.<<

And less notably by the Mamas and the Papas.

This thread seems to have changed from best titles to best songs. OK by me!

(HaroldZ: you wouldn't by any chance know who the Ray Charles sound-a-like is on The Chantels' "Well I Told You," which is kind of an answer record to 'Hit The Road Jack'? No, this isn't one of my trivia questions, I'd really like to know. It doesn't sound like Richard Barrett.)

Squaredance...I don't know who that is on "Well I Told You". I just listened to that track, "Summer's Love" on the Chantels comp and "Lily Maybelle" by the Valentines with Richard Barrett singing lead. I'm not sure if I have any other records with Richard singing lead. His voice is different enough on those tracks to say that he IS versatile enough to have possibly done a convincing Ray Charles, but...then again ???

Think..about the good things, baby.
Think..about the bad things, maybe.
Think...about the outtasight things.

HaroldZ -- I have what you have plus The Valentines "Woo Woo Train" (by Barrett, excellent uptempo piece, like a Cadillacs jump tune!). Barrett sounds like a tenor to me and the Ray Charles soundalike like a baritone. Also, since Barrett gave himself credit *above* The Chantels on 'Summer's Love,' it seems odd that he would leave himself off completely on "Well I Told You." Still, it's possible.

HaroldZ: it IS Richard Barrett!! Amazing. I received the Doo Wop Box II today, & just got to reading some of the notes tonight. Check it out: the quoted material is all from the notes to 'Look In My Eyes' from the box. The great original lead singer, Arlene Smith, left to go solo with Phil Spector and

"The remaining Chantels cut a cover of The Fleetwoods 'Come Softly To Me,' with their producer, former Valentine Richard Barrett singing lead."

And then they signed Annette Smith (from another Barrett produced group, a Chantel-clone called The Veneers), and had a


"... smash with 'Look In My Eyes.' Again with Barrett on lead, they cut an answer to Ray Charles' 'Hit The Road Jack,' 'Well I Told You.' Today, ironically, Annette is history and Arlene sings 'Look In My Eyes' in her act."

Squaredance..I was just about to see if there were any Valentines on the DooWop box II to further check out Richard B.'s Voice. I have the cds but no booklet.

Apparently Richard is a thoroughly professional singer who can utilize his voice in various ways. I've seen a few singers turned record producer who have been pretty impressive in this regard. They create and demonstrate ALL the harmony parts (sometimes on the spot)and show the lead singer exactly how to approach his or her part. Impressive.

>>BTW, the 5 Royales were a pretty big influence on the Famous Flames. They were one of the great groups of R&B, and also did the originals on "Tell The Truth, later covered by Ray Charles, and "This Is Dedicated To The One I Love" later covered by the Shirelles.<<

They began as a pure gospel group called The Royal Sons Quintet ("Journey's End" & "Bedside of a Neighbor", the first of which is available on the "The Dawn of Doo Wop" box). They had several top R&B hits, and were one of only a couple of groups to begin as gospel, move through doo wop, and survive into soul. And, as Harold Z mentions above, their stablemates at King Records -- James Brown and The Famous Flames -- owe a lot to them.

Another group who did "Dedicated" was a group call The Temprees.This group sang mostly love song similar to The Delfonics in the late 60's early 70's.Thier version was about 10min long a great slow drag record to get your grind on back in the day.Peace and all that.

Dedicated To The One I Love (Lowman Pauling-Ralph Bass)
The “5” Royales King 5098 (1957)
Bubber Johnson King 5117 (1958)
The Shirelles Scepter 1203 (1959)
The Orlons from Cameo LP 1020 (1962)
The Shirelles United Artists 50740 (1970 version)
The Temprees We Produce 1808 (1972)